posted
My favorites are when they list the side effects and name one as "Flu." Ummm...I may be misremembering my basic biology, but flu is a virus, no? How can a side effect of a drug be the flu - does the drug carry the active virus in it? Now, I could understand if a drug made you more susceptible to catching the flue or it caused flu like symptoms, but I'm not getting how it actually causes the flu.
On the leg twitching thing, I used to think it was a petty thing to be complaining about until I experienced Restless leg syndrome as a side effect from a med once. It was horrible. I can't imagine people having it all the time. If mine hadn't gone away after the drug wore off, I can assure you I would have taken a pill to relieve the symptoms.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I'm thinking a lot of the things curable with a pill these days may seem silly to some who don't actually suffer the affliction.
But I'll say this: Pharmeceutical companies aren't stupid. How many BILLIONS of dollars does it cost to research, test, and field a new pill? They aren't going to make a pill for something unless there is a large enough audience to pay them off for it, in enough time before they have to let generic companies make the same pill for less and steal their profits away.
It might be that the real problem is with doctors who prescribe expensive medications for people who don't really need it, but drug companies don't make useless drugs.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by pH: "Most sleep aids carry some risk of dependency."
....so we're going to give you a week of ours for free!
I'm telling you, drug companies are becoming increasingly ridiculous. Oh, sometimes when you lie down, do your legs twitch? We've got a pill for that!
-pH
As an addendum to what I said before, this isn't quite as tricky as you might think on the surface. Even if it were some sort of attempt to get them to seriously addict people to their drugs, the average person could not afford the pill without insurance paying for most of it, and insurance companies won't do that without doctor approval, and doctors won't do it without a sleep study, which can't really be faked.
My mom has some pills that cost something like $60 PER PILL. Average people who take a pill for a week, I don't think are going to develop a $400 a week Lunesta habit. If it were THAT addictive, that easily, there'd be a stronger warning on the label, and they'd probably get in quite a bit of trouble for passing it out like candy.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: My favorites are when they list the side effects and name one as "Flu." Ummm...I may be misremembering my basic biology, but flu is a virus, no? How can a side effect of a drug be the flu - does the drug carry the active virus in it?
Yeah, it's pretty lame. It has to do with how drug companies come up with lists of side effects. I don't know exactly how it is done but it basically involves the person marking down every single bad symptom they have while on the drug.
So, if the drug is for nausea, most patients will list nausea as a symptom. Maybe they'll mark down diarrhea or constipation or fever. (Goes along with nausea/vomiting, right?) Or if they are taking a flu remedy they'll mark down flu and all symptoms of the flu. So then the drug company puts all those things down as possible side effects. It's kind of dumb but hard to fix. But you basically have to take all those lists with a lot of suspicion.
My elderly patients bring these lists in with things highlighted and then refuse meds or quit meds based on these lists. Drives me up the wall. Or they listen to Dr Gott rather than to me. He's turned into a quack. *bitter*
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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[url=http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic3/humira_ad.htm side effects list[/url]
You'll see the side effects listing of Humira, which I know has been on tv a lot recently. There's a table toward the bottom of the page that lists upper respiratory infection, sinusitis, and flu syndrome as side effects.
I used to work for a pharmaceutical company, so I know how the tests are conducted, but I think it's misleading to the public. If people get the flu while in a drug testing trial and mention it, and it gets put down as a possible side effect of the drug, then yeah, I see how it happens but I think it is a little unfair to assume the drug had anything to do with it. I mean, those people would have caught the flu no matter what they were taking, I would think.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Belle, that's why I like to read the results of the actual studies, with comparisons of the drug to the control. That's how I make my determinations on how much I should be worried about a side effect.
quote:Originally posted by Belle: On the leg twitching thing, I used to think it was a petty thing to be complaining about until I experienced Restless leg syndrome as a side effect from a med once. It was horrible. I can't imagine people having it all the time. If mine hadn't gone away after the drug wore off, I can assure you I would have taken a pill to relieve the symptoms.
I felt the same way until I experienced it after birth. What made it even worse? It was happening while I was nursing my baby in the middle of the night. I had an almost uncontrollable urge to get up, walk around, shake my legs, and other such symptoms, but could do a one of them because my baby needed to eat! I had to keep waking up my husband to rub my legs through the nursing session. Luckily, the symptoms have worn off in the last year since his birth. It was not fun to deal with.
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![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
It's kind of dumb but hard to fix. But you basically have to take all those lists with a lot of suspicion.![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
